Jerry Rubin, President and CEO of Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) was recently selected as a 2019 Barr Fellow. The Barr Foundation selects 12 exemplary civic leaders based on their personal qualities, organizational impact, and track record of collaboration to advance Greater Boston’s community and civic agendas.
Awarded every two years, this prestigious award includes a group learning journey outside the US, a 3 month sabbatical, leadership coaching, and facilitated retreats. JVS will receive a financial award from the Barr Foundation to support Jerry’s participation in the fellowship, leadership team and organizational development, and exploration of new ideas. JVS is among the oldest and largest providers of adult education and workforce development services in Greater Boston.
“The Barr Fellowship experience begins with a ten-day group learning journey outside the United States. Each journey is carefully designed to immerse Fellows in a collective growth experience; build deep relationships among Fellows; and offer a disruption from their day-to-day work,” according to the Barr Foundation website. “Fellows then embark on a three-month personal sabbatical during which they are asked to disengage completely from their organizations. At the same time, organizations name an interim leader (or leadership team) who takes on increased responsibility during the Fellow’s absence. The Fellowship offers coaching and collaborative learning retreats for these interim leaders in order to strengthen the overall leadership within the organization.”
“At the end of the two-year Fellowship period, each class is integrated into the Barr Fellowship Network, a forum through which participating leaders continue to learn from each other, deepen relationships, and potentially create collaborations that benefit the city as well as their organizations. There are 68 alumni of the Barr Fellowship program since its inception in 2005. Investing in leadership is a core value of the Foundation that permeates all of our activities. We are thrilled to bring this value to life through the Barr Fellowship program.